The Author

I am a husband and a father. I have three children: Molly,
Hadrian (called "Hal"), and Camilla. I have two dogs: Sunny
and Lursa.

I am not a published author. But, as Dorothy Parker put it,
"I enjoy having written." And I enjoy reading stories. Especially
good children's stories. And by "good children's stories," I
mean stories that are enjoyable to read aloud and assume that
the most powerful force in the world is a child's imagination.

I was born outside of Boston. I have lived in LA, New York,
and Hong Kong. I now live in Chicago.

The 'Holiday' Stories

In 1990, the year my daughter Molly was born, I wrote "The
Laziest King." A few people asked me for copies of it for their
children and their children's friends. So I printed out a dozen
or so copies and mailed them to these parents as holiday gifts,
as well as to a few other people I knew who had children of
an age I thought might enjoy the story. Apparently they did,
because they asked if I had written any more stories.

So I sent out another one the following year. And another
one after that. And...

More than ten years later, my collection of 'holiday' stories
has grown.

The Website

When I miss someone on my 'holiday story' mailing list --
or take it upon myself to decide that their child is too old
or young for a certain story -- I hear about it.

"Where's my Stuart story this year?" they ask. I hear that
a lot. Which is why I called this site "StuartStories."

And since there are new children on my mailing list, I find
myself fulfilling orders for stories distributed during previous
years.

So for all the people I have missed or want back copies of
my stories, here they are. All in one place.

But there are two other reasons I created this site:

Because at the same time I say that parents should read
to their kids more, I also say that there are very few good
new children's stories out there. Whether or not you think
these are good, at least they're free.

My cousin, Audrey Brody, who died of breast cancer a
few years back, thought it'd be nice for children to have
a site where they could read and write stories. This is
probably not quite the site she imagined, but it's the best
I can do. And it's why I dedicate this site to her.

Link to My Site

Feel free to place the following code on your website
to link to StuartStories.com. If you prefer, you can
download the image (at left) instead of linking to it.

The FAQ

These are actual questions I have been asked. A number of
them many times.

Q. Why don't you (try to) publish these stories?

A. I was approached by a
publisher for "The Laziest King" in 1991 ... but I never pursued
it. Previously, I had had a bad experience with a novel I wrote
(the editor wanted so many substantial changes) that I decided
I'd rather write stories on my own terms.

Don't forget that I make my living writing advertising copy,
which is subject to many rounds of revisions based solely (and
correctly so) on "marketability."

But, now, the better answer is: I just did.

Q. Why do you think the Harry Potter Series is so unbelievably
popular?

A. I think it's not so much because they are great
stories (not to say they aren't very, very good), but rather
because there are so few new children's stories being published
that are any good right now. Most are insipid rehashes of what's
already out there -- though some are incredibly well illustrated.

When a good children's story does appear, it's big news and
generates incredible interest. Sadly, however, this only whets
people's appetites for more good children’s stories and increases
the resulting disappointment.

Q. Why are there so few great children stories being published
now?

A. It'd be easy to simply blame agents and publishers
for only wanting to go with things that are already proven to
be successful ... so I will.

Q. What makes a good children's story?

A. You're reading a story to your children and you
notice that their eyes are closed. And you can tell that they're
following along in their imagination. That's a good children's
story.

Too many children's stories talk down to children, preach
to them, or over explain things. A good children's story weaves
a tale as if it were happening at that moment and doesn't "dumb
it down" so the kids will understand.

Q. You say some stories are "classic children's story"
style and others are "story-teller" style. What do you mean?

A. A good example of what I call "classic children's
story" style is the ‘Billy Goats Gruff,’ where a number of creatures,
in order, walk the same path with similar results until the
last one does -- at which point something new happens.

The best example of "story teller" style are Kipling's ‘Just
So Stories,’ where the listener is spoken to as opposed to read
to.

Q. What's the difference between a story that's meant
to be read to yourself and one that's meant to be read aloud?

A. Again, look at the ‘Just So Stories.’ They're easy
to read. They assume a listener. And at no point do you wonder
who or what is saying something, or how it is being said.

Examples:

Bad for reading aloud:

"I think your hat is the loveliest thing I have ever
seen in my whole life!" she said, using her most sarcastic
voice.

Good for reading aloud:

Using her most sarcastic voice, she said, "I think your
hat is the loveliest thing I have ever seen in my whole
life!"

Even when you pre-read, it's hard to remember every speaker
or their tone of voice on any particular line.

Q. Why do some of your stories have offensive things in
them? (Such as the bottle of rum in "Yo Ho Ho".)

A. Offensive is in the eye of the beholder. I find
political correctness and preachy morals offensive.

If you don't like something in my stories, don't read them
to your children. And I'll applaud you for it.

Q. Have you written any ‘adult’ stories?

A. Yes. Three novels, some poems, a few plays, and
countless short stories. Only one of them has been published
so far. But since this question has come up so many times recently,
I have put some of the shorter works online. You can find them
at
http://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/nomonster.
Many of them are NOT suitable for children.

I like stories.com’s guidance ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R, Etc.),
but the pop-up ads quickly become distracting (a necessary evil
and who am I to criticize?).

Q. Of your own stories, what are the/your favorites?

A. Based on page views, pdf downloads and links, the
current favorite is ‘Firefly’ by a small amount. ‘The Princess,
the Dragon and the Very Bad Knight,’ which used to not-so popular,
has risen to be very popular, which is good since it’s one of
my favorites. ‘Ona’ and 'Pirates' are also towards the top in
popularity. And Hal’s joke story ‘Frog Prince’ is one of the
more popular links on the site - and a very popular entry point.
Thanks Hal!

In the ‘Activities’ section, the ‘Finish Me Stories’ are
easily the most popular – especially with teachers. ‘Chocolate
Brother’ and 'Blue Bottle' are the most viewed and receive the
most submissions. ‘Imaginary Sister,' which does not get that
many viewers, actually generates a good number of submissions.

As for my favorites, it’s difficult because I know why I
wrote them. ‘The Princess, the Dragon and the Very Bad Knight’
is the one that reads most closely to what I imagined – and
one of the few I still enjoy reading aloud. I like the subtlety
of ‘Boy and His Shadow’ and the ‘Same Old Story Book.’ But what
do I know? These two are some of the least popular stories on
the site.